Sen. Hagan’s campaign ads hit the airwaves

U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan’s first two TV ads of the campaign are out. The North Carolina Democrat is in a race rated as a tossup against Republican challenger Thom Tillis, speaker of the state House.

One ad is about her work to get the bipartisan law passed that provides medical care to Marines and their families who became ill from drinking contaminated water at Camp Lejeune. The other is about closing a loophole in a trade agreement on textiles.

Retired Marine Jerry Ensminger narrates the Hagan ad., His daughter Janey was born at the base and died of leukemia from the carcinogenic-laden water at age 9. Ensminger worked for 17 years trying to bring attention to the contamination and get care for families suffering from it. The ad notes the bill was bipartisan. Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., also worked to get it passed and signed into law in 2012.

Hagan’s second ad is about a loophole in the Central American Free Trade Agreement of 2005 that left out a synthetic thread from the deal. It allowed countries that were not part of the agreement, including China, to put cheaper yarn in textiles. Hagan helped get a bill passed to close the loophole, which her campaign claims saved jobs in the textile industry in the Carolinas.